


From Bad to Better

by multifandommess



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Mentions of Jessebelle's abusive relationship with James, Please keep Jessebelle five million miles from James at all times thanks, Which eventually turns into a real relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-09 23:10:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17414309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifandommess/pseuds/multifandommess
Summary: James jumps out of the frying pan and into the fire... or so he says, anyway. Though maybe dealing with Brock won't be as bad as dealing with Jessebelle....





	From Bad to Better

**Author's Note:**

> Written about... 6 years ago now? Time really flies lmao;; Iirc I wrote this one as a gift for a mutual on tumblr
> 
> Takes place during AG

****"No! No no no a million times _no!_ "

"James darling, please, this is no way for a young man to act!"

"I don't care, I've already told you and my parents a million times that I don't want to marry you!"

"Oh, but dear, you were the one who pushed for this engagement in the first place!"

" _I was five!_ And if I was the one to make that decision then I should have the right to retract it!"

Jessie and Meowth sat back, eyes darting back and forth between James and Jessebelle as if watching a tennis match. Honestly, how Jessebelle had managed to track them down was a complete mystery, but it was something to break up the monotony of their days of failed attempts at thievery and subsequent blastoffs, so the two bystanders weren't complaining all that much.

"Oh my, are you trying to say that you would rather be with an uncouth lady like _her_ than with a proper young lady like me?"

Well, _Meowth_ wasn't complaining all that much, anyway.

Jessie shot to her feet and over to the not-couple in a matter of seconds. "' _Uncouth?_ ' I've got more _couth_ in my pinky than you have in your whole body, you stuck up little—"

" _Jessie!_ "

Jessie shot James a glare. "You stay out of this!"

"See, darling? A _real_ lady would never speak in such a manner to her fiance."

"I already told you, you're not my—"

"You wouldn't know a _real_ lady if you got a kick in the ass from one! In fact, as a _real lady_ , how about I take care of that for you?"

James quickly moved to hold Jessie back before she could so much as pull her leg back to strike out at her look-alike. "Jess, you're not making things any better by getting angry; don't let her provoke you!"

"Oh my, how boorish! James dear, is this really the company you choose to keep? You poor thing, she must have poisoned your mind if you think you're happy staying with her...."

"I'll show you 'boorish'...," Jessie growled. "How about I shove a Piloswine up your—"

" ** _Jessie!_** "

"Stop interrupting me, James! She's _asking_ for it!"

"Oh my, you poor thing! Are you that desperate to associate with the upper class that you would delude yourself into thinking that I would ask anything of you?"

" ** _ENOUGH!!_** "

Both women broke their heated gazes to turn their attention to James, startled by his outburst, and James took advantage of the moment of silence to continue speaking. "Jessebelle, for the last time, I have _no interest_ in marrying you _whatsoever_ , and it does **_not_** have anything to do with me spending time with Jessie! She's just a friend!"

"Then why in the world would you not want to marry me?"

"Because I don't like you!"

"Nonsense, you love me! Your parents have agreed that you and I are a perfect match!"

"I don't care what my parents say, we are _not_ a 'perfect match' and I don't want to marry you!"

"You have yet to give me a proper reason as to why you wish not to be wed, dear—do I need to teach you the proper way of conducting an argument?"

James was an inch away from pulling his hair out of his head—Jessebelle _just wasn't getting it_ , and it didn't look like Jessie or Meowth were going to be much help either, so he had to think of something that would get his fiancee off of his back for good. "Because... b-because I... uh...."

"James dear, it's unbecoming for a proper young man like yourself to stutter."

" ** _Because I'm gay!_** "

There was a long, drawn-out period of silence following James' abrupt outburst, during which James' face gradually grew redder and redder as he belatedly processed what he'd blurted out.

Finally, the silence was broken with a loud, "Did Jimmy jus' come outta th' closet?!"

"Well this explains why he never had a problem with crossdressing."

"Or wit' wearin' makeup."

"And I _knew_ there was a reason why he hadn't fallen for my beauty and feminine charm!"

"No, him not fallin' for your 'feminine charm' is jus' him bein' _sane_."

"What did you say you little—"

" _Will you both be quiet?!_ " James glared at the pair, his face bright red—he'd only said it to get Jessebelle off of his back, not for Jessie and Meowth to point out all the 'evidence' for him being gay (which he insisted that he wasn't, because enjoying looking beautiful had _nothing_ to do with being attracted to the opposite sex).

He was about to continue trying to defend his pride when he became aware of something that sent a shiver down his spine.

Jessebelle hadn't said anything.

Slowly, as if he were about to face the grim reaper itself, he turned to face Jessebelle, flinching nervously as her eyes met his.

"It isn't proper for an engaged young man with a noble upbringing such as yourself to tell such... disgusting lies."

"B-but I'm not lying!"

"James dear, you're stuttering again—it looks like we will have plenty of problems to fix once our marriage ceremony is complete."

"I already told you, I'm not marrying you!"

"Yes, yes, you already told me your silly little lies—now then, come along, I think you've had your fun playing around with these hooligans and letting them corrupt your mind."

Before Jessie could jump down Jessebelle's throat (again), there came the sound of voices and foliage being pushed aside (along with an oblivious "I'm pretty sure I heard voices coming from over here!") moments before a familiar group of four entered the clearing, coming face-to-face with the trio and Jessebelle.

James had never been so relieved to see the twerps in his entire life.

Before Ash could so much as open his mouth to point out the obvious and exclaim " _It's Team Rocket!_ " for the 58912734087th time since first meeting them, James—in a rare show of boldness fueled mainly by desperation—loudly proclaimed, "If you don't believe me, then I'll just have to prove it to you!" seconds before grabbing Brock and kissing him on the lips for Jessebelle (and everyone else, though that didn't seem to occur to him at the moment) to see.

James broke the kiss, letting go of Brock and taking a step back, watching with a raised eyebrow as the teen fell to the floor in a red-faced heap.

_Well, that wasn't exactly the reaction I was expecting, but at least he's not blowing my cover._

Ignoring the red-faced May covering her younger brother's eyes and the various exclamations of grossed-out shock coming from Ash, James turned to face Jessebelle, just barely repressing a triumphant expression at the look of shock on her face. "See? Told you I wasn't lying."

"Your parents will not be pleased to hear of this" was Jessebelle's only response before she turned on her heel and walked away, lips pursed in obvious disapproval.

But hell, James didn't give a damn _what_ she (or his parents) thought if it meant finally being free of this engagement that haunted him for over a decade.

And so James lived happily ever after...

... or so he thought, anyway.

* * *

"Jessie...."

"James, I already told you: you got yourself into this mess, now you can get yourself out of it."

"But this is the fifth time this week!"

"You were the one that stole a hormonal teenager's first kiss, not me."

James groaned, covering his face with his free hand, his other hand holding on to a large bouquet of roses—the fifth gift that the oldest twerp had presented him with in the past week. Honestly, while he'd initially been weirded out by having Brock's flirtatious attention directed at him (not counting any time when he was crossdressing, since Brock never knew it was him on the few awkward occasions that such a thing happened), that feeling was slowly starting to be replaced with a gnawing feeling of guilt as he realized that he'd used a kid who was genuinely eager for a relationship just to get out of a relationship of his own... and without so much as giving him a warning or letting him know that it was just for show, no less.

_Somehow I feel like I jumped out of the frying pan and right into the fire...._

After having Jessebelle relentlessly pursue him and make his life a living hell for so many years, a relationship was the last thing James wanted.

(Thankfully, despite her occasional teasing comments involving them acting like a couple or him falling for her or anything along those lines, Jessie seemed to understand this and showed no intent of pushing him to be anything other than her friend, even if Jessebelle seemed to think that there was something going on between the two of them.)

Hell, even just the thought of being in a relationship with someone felt more like a death sentence than a romantic mental image—but, well... he couldn't deny that the attention he was receiving was flattering, at the very least; and surprisingly enough, the kid wasn't being all that pushy about it either.

The oldest twerp was constantly going from one girl to the next, so James never really expected this to last for more than a day at the most—but yet here he was five days later, a bouquet of roses as red as the twerp's face had been in hand, after being on the receiving end of a mixture of cheesy pickup lines and stammered (yet seemingly genuine) compliments followed by the request to go on a date with him (which he declined five times already, and _damn_ , he never felt more like a heartless villain than he did in those moments when he watched Brock's face fall in defeat). Yet despite knowing that the twerp was just going to keep trying, as Jessebelle had done for longer than James cared to remember, for some reason he never once felt like he was being forced into saying yes, which... well, he wouldn't admit it of course, but there was a part of him that genuinely appreciated that.

Which made it all the more difficult for him to bring himself to put his foot down and tell the twerp to back off.

_I'll... do it tomorrow,_ he told himself for the fifth time that week, glancing down at the bouquet of roses in his hand.

He never expected to get himself mixed up in another relationship-related mess so soon after finally getting Jessebelle off of his back, but, well... at least this one was a bit less dangerous for his mental (and physical) health, if nothing else.

* * *

Two weeks later, James was at his limit.

Flowers, chocolate, homemade lunches, other various gifts—it was completely obvious by now that, between the gifts and the daily compliments, Brock was... _wooing_ him, for lack of a better term.

And the worst part was that it was working.

Hell, he, Jessie and Meowth hadn't even been able to go through with a single attempt at any sort of thievery with Brock constantly stepping in and distracting him, throwing off their entire plan.

(And by "throwing off their entire plan," he more often than not meant Jessie and Meowth ended up getting blasted off by the twerp and his Pikachu in the background while Brock was busy telling him how nice his hair looked or how his outfit complimented his eyes, which was flattering in the moment until he had to leave to go find and deal with his two irritated teammates.)

Yet the more they told him to tell Brock to give it a rest, the harder it was to turn the lovesick teenager down every time he asked for even just a few minutes of his time.

_Well, it's not like he's a stranger... I mean technically we've known each other for a few years now, so maybe it wouldn't be that weird to—_ James shook his head, feeling his resolve growing weaker and weaker as the days went on.

And one day, he finally caved.

While Jessie and Meowth were distracted with battling Ash and May, he found himself grabbing Brock by the arm and dragging him off so they could talk in private, his face flushed as he turned around and thrust his pointer out emphatically. "One date. _One_. Got it?"

He could hardly blame the twerp for the shocked expression that crossed his face, but when that shock brightened into an overjoyed expression, James felt as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his face—after all, when was the last time that he'd ever seen someone so happy because of him? When was the last time that he'd ever seen someone so eager to spend time with him, let alone someone who was genuinely interested in him? It was....

Well, it was a pretty nice feeling, honestly.

Deciding to indulge a little (while unsure of who exactly he was indulging—Brock or himself), James gave Brock a quick kiss on the cheek, feeling satisfied that the twerp's face was now redder than his own. "But who knows—if it goes well enough, maybe I'll consider extending my offer to two dates."

As he walked back towards the ongoing pokemon battle, with Brock quickly following after him, he couldn't help but smile to himself—at the rate this twerp was going, he wouldn't have to do much to get him to accept an offer for a second date, or a third, or maybe even a fourth.


End file.
